


Act I - Welcome to the Fletching and Moondrop Academy

by EmmaBryonyFox



Series: Take 1 (the only one you get) [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Foster Family, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Amnesia, Family, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-06-30 17:20:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15756285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmmaBryonyFox/pseuds/EmmaBryonyFox
Summary: After waking up in a hospital room without any memories and being passed around several foster families during two years, Mollymauk Tealeaf hopes to finally find people that truly care about him. Being taken in by the Fletching and Moondrop family might just fulfill his wish.A new foster family, a new school and new friends welcome Molly in his new life full of overwhelming feelings, unanswered questions and worries for the strange red-haired boy he doesn’t get out of his head.





	1. Scene 1 - A Family of Light

**Author's Note:**

> So, High School AUs are my third favourite AUs, so it’s not really surprising that I’m writing one. Prepare for the drama!
> 
> And English isn’t my first language, so if you find anything that’s wrong with my grammar, style, word choice, ... don’t hesitate to tell me. I’ll appreciate it. And I’m always open for constructive criticism if there’s something else you want to say.
> 
> Now, I hope you’ll enjoy this story.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Molly finds a home, his voice and a mysterious red-haired boy.

Although he was asleep, Molly felt the car stop with an abrupt jolt. It woke him up, threw him out of a disturbing dream he forgot the moment he opened his eyes. Only a slightly unpleasant feeling remained, like it happened so often the last days. He could never remember, but he was sure the dream was always the same. Disoriented, Molly tried to make sense of where he was. He had been in the car for hours, and had probably slept through half of the ride. Gustav, one of his new foster fathers, had told him every important detail about his new foster family and the silence afterwards, combined with the continuous humming of the car’s engine, had lulled him into the peace of sleep. Only that peace was rarely present in Molly’s dreams.

Watching out of the car’s window, he spotted a big two-story house, obviously built for a family, bright blue front, the windows – through which light illuminated the darkening outside – encircled by dark wood, the roof covered with slate. It was surrounded by grass, Molly couldn’t see the garden behind the house, but the sideways were filled with little trees, flowers and herbs. A grey stoned path lead to the red front door. The sinking sun made everything shine in a warm orange and golden light, which Molly took as a good sign. He had a good feeling about this foster family. 

Gustav had treated him with nothing but respect and his tales about his and his husband’s other foster kids – Toya, Mona, Yuli and Yasha – gave him hope that he would get along with them. In the short time Gustav knew Molly, he had already done more than most other foster families in weeks. Or less, if you saw it that way. He didn’t ask if Molly faked his amnesia. He didn’t pressure him to talk about the scars. He didn’t try to force Molly to talk, instead, he accepted his chosen mutism and encouraged him to talk whenever he was ready, no matter if it was in a day, a week, a month or even a year. He didn’t think Molly was a problematic and troublesome teenager, only because his shoulder-length, curly hair was dyed purple, he had piercings in his ear and lip, or because of the red eye tattoos on his right hand, the right side of his neck and his right shoulder – however, those had already been there when Molly woke up two years ago in a hospital without any memories of his previous life, and weren’t his doing. Gustav had accepted Molly at first sight.

“We’re here. Welcome to the Fletching and Moondrop family, Mollymauk, welcome to your new home,” Gustav Fletching said and smiled a last time at Molly, before he opened the car door and got out. Without waiting for him, Gustav took Molly’s few belongings – due to the short stays, he had always travelled light – and headed for the house after calling Molly with a friendly ‘Come on’.

Molly took a deep breath, instinctively preparing for a disappointment, then he followed Gustav out of the car to the house. For the last two years, he had entered too many homes that weren’t his, where he had felt and had been treated like an intruder, and had been asked to leave again, but this time, he hoped it would be different, no, he knew it would be different. It had to be. He was determined to make it different.

Gustav opened the front door and let them in. Warmth and the scent of fresh food in the air drove the chilly breeze from the exterior away, and the atmosphere was welcoming and comforting. The house looked ordinary at first sight, white walls, dark wooden shelves, pictures and subtle decorations, but after less than a second, Molly already felt that this was a happy environment full of joy and fun. An environment where he would feel like he belonged. The moment he set foot in his new home, a little figure rushed out of one of the rooms. 

“They’re here, they’re here!” The little girl shouted with her surprisingly crackly voice, curious and excited, apparently not caring that she could damage her voice further. Molly also noticed how short she was, shorter than most twelve-year-olds – he assumed she was twelve, he was usually good in guessing ages – he had seen before. Her blonde hair was held back in a messy braid and she looked at him with wide, big and bright eyes and smiled. She had a nice and warm smile, he liked it, he immediately liked her.

“Toya, dear, this is Mollymauk,” Gustav introduced him and put Molly’s bags next to a staircase leading to the second floor. Toya approached the new family member and stopped right in front of him.

“Is it okay if I hug you?” She asked politely and looked at him expectantly and as soon as Molly nodded, she hugged him tight, as if it was something she had done her whole life, as if hugging Molly was something normal and familiar. He wasn’t exactly sure how to react, hugs had come sparse in his life, so he ran his hand over her hair awkwardly. Something in the back of his head told him that he should get used to it.

“It is very nice to finally meet you! We’ve been waiting for you for days!” She revealed and seemed to expect a reply, but Molly only smiled. Already when Gustav had picked him up from the shelter, he had tried to make an effort for the new family. Most former foster families had given up on him because they took his lack of talking personally, and Molly was tired of being abandoned for a reason he could not control. Talking just wasn’t working. He had tried, countless of times. For the first weeks, when he was still hospitalised, the only word that had left his mouth was ‘empty’, so he had given up pretty quickly. A year later, he had started to work on it with a psychologist, but it hadn’t changed anything, on the contrary, it had worsened things. He wasn’t even able to say ‘empty’ anymore. 

However, now, he was resolved to try his best not to lose his shot at a home and a family again, although he was sure that the Fletchings and Moondrops wouldn’t send him away because of his mutism. Still, speaking was hard, as if he simply wasn’t able to find the right motivation. He wished it were easier. 

Toya was still waiting, but luckily, her attention quickly shifted from Molly to the bald man that had appeared in the corridor after her, standing still and observing the scene before him.

Molly had already heard about Desmond Moondrop’s scars, it was one of the first things Gustav had told him, and he had tried to imagine it, but seeing the scared face for real was a bit strange. Molly had scars himself, on his arms, chest and neck, either from the accident that had cost him his memories, or from whatever he had done to himself in his previous life. Memory loss was a very positive thing when it also got rid of the emotional baggage. Desmond’s scars were different. More violent, deeper. They had a story, a known story, that would probably never be forgotten.

“Mollymauk, what a pleasure to finally have you here,” Desmond greeted the newcomer. “If you don’t mind, I am currently cooking and I can’t leave the food alone for too long. I will be happy to properly get to know you at dinner.”

After a nod, the man disappeared again in what Molly assumed had to be the kitchen, and left a slightly puzzled Molly, a still agitated Toya and a chuckling Gustav.

“Toya, would you show Mollymauk the house and introduce him to the others?” Gustav asked and Toya reacted immediately. She quickly took Molly’s hand, who didn’t instantly realised what was happening, grabbed one of his bags with ease – she was stronger than she looked – and dragged him up the stairs to the second floor, giving him just enough time to pick up the rest of his belongings with his free hand.

“I’ll start with the second floor, it’s where our rooms are. And by the way, you have a strange name, I like it. And your hair is really beautiful!” The little girl started to talk Molly’s head off. Her voice continued to crackle, and he worried that it would disappear at any moment, but Toya didn’t let it disturb her flow of words. Molly was almost a bit jealous, but nonetheless, listened to her while she showed him the bathroom – a blur of white shades – her own room – a blur of green shades – and Molly’s new room – a blur of red shades – where they left his bags.

Totally overwhelmed by all of the new things he saw, heard and felt, he couldn’t remember any of the words Toya had said or even how her or his room looked, it didn’t leave a resting impression. Molly just held on to Toya’s little hand and followed her around, sometimes getting a glimpse of a picture standing on a shelf or a painting hanging on a wall, the things that made the house feel like a home, that made it personal, that made it different from the other houses in this street.

The next room they entered was occupied by two girls, probably twins, who were almost identical – Molly could make out that the one’s nose was pointier than the other’s – not only in their appearance, but also in the way they looked at Molly. Curious and a bit sceptical. It was a look he was used to, but usually, there was also dislike in the mix, which was absent in the twins’ eyes. They were more analysing, as if Molly was an experiment they had to study and understand. Maybe that was good, but nevertheless, it wasn’t pleasant.

“Are you Mollymauk?” One of them asked, the one with the pointier nose, not in a rude way, but also not in the most polite way. She didn’t mean any harm, Molly was aware of that, he knew kids like her, they didn’t mean to be, well, mean, however, that didn’t change the fact that Molly felt doubts and fears invade his thoughts at once. He nodded anyway and listened to Toya explaining. “Yes, this is Mollymauk, and these two are Mona and Yuli, the twins. They seem a bit standoffish and rude at first, but you’ll get used to them, that’s just how they are. Come on now, there’s still someone else you gotta meet.”

To Molly’s relief, Toya dragged him out of the twins’ room and an awkward and uncomfortable situation again and he could hear an offended ‘Hey’ as reaction to the introduction from one of the sisters, before they entered another bedroom, the last one on this floor.

There were little flower pots everywhere, between the books on the shelves, on the desk, on the bedside table, on the closet, on the windowsill, even on the floor, the colours of the various plants and the brightly painted pots themselves lightening the otherwise dark room – the sun had set and the light was turned off. Molly immediately fell in love with the room and had almost forgotten there was someone living in it, hadn’t the girl, who sat on the bed, holding one of the pots, looked up and right in his eyes. Molly wanted to say something so badly, he urged to communicate with the flower girl, who had to be Yasha, but the words wouldn’t leave his mouth. He just stared at her silently, and she did the same.

Molly discovered that her eyes – framed by dark mascara and eyeliner – were of two different colours, one violet and one greenish-blue, he had never met anyone else whose eyes had those colours. Her pale skin tone – paler than Molly had ever seen – stood in incredible contrast with her pitch black hair, that was matted and braided and dreaded and dyed white as it reached the tips. To say she looked interesting was clearly an understatement.

“Mollymauk, meet Yasha. Yasha, this is Mollymauk, our new brother,” Toya introduced them with her usual excitement, waiting for either of them to react, but after her words, the silence between the three people grew so strong that it seemed to become unbearable. Molly didn’t have anything against silence, however, he feared that this time, silence could destroy his chances to bond with either of his new siblings, who all appeared so alive and loud and the contrary of silent. Luckily, it didn’t stay that way.

“Oh. Hello… Welcome…” Yasha greeted Molly unsure and grabbed onto flower pot she was holding, as if she wanted to transform into a plant and disappear inside of it. Molly didn’t mind, maybe she was shy, socially awkward, maybe she wasn’t good with people and that was the reason she surrounded herself with flowers, because she preferred them over real people, he didn’t care, he liked Yasha, her calming presence, her obvious love for flowers and the feeling of safety she sent out. Molly hoped that, with time, he would become part of her family, of Toya and Gustav’s and Desmond’s and Yasha’s and even the twins’ family.

“And that was everyone. Now I’ll get you back to your room again, you have to unpack,” Toya finished up her little tour through the second floor and dragged Molly back to his own bedroom. He was a bit disappointed that she hadn’t given him the possibility of talking to Yasha some more. 

This time, he actually paid attention to the interior of his room. The walls were painted red and orange, as if they were supposed to represent a raging fire – maybe they were – the furniture was mostly made out of dark, almost black wood, that made the colours of the walls shine more brightly and more alive. The window was covered by simple white curtains, on which someone had drawn little flames to make them more interesting. Molly had the feeling he wasn’t the first one to live in this room, and that the previous occupant really liked fire. He didn’t dislike the room, but he would have to get used to it.

“This is where Ornna lived before she went to university. She was a big fan of fire. Maybe you’ll meet her on Christmas,” Toya confirmed Molly’s thoughts, as if she’d read them, and then ran across the room to hop onto the bed. She looked at him with her big eyes, watching Molly standing in the doorframe and not moving. It was his room. However, it didn’t feel that way. Yet. He would make it his, he had already some ideas, but for now, he couldn’t change it, so he should accept it.

“Do you need help?” Toya asked friendly and obviously waited for him to respond. He stared at the little girl for some seconds. She sat there, but wasn’t still. She was an excited kid full of energy and deserved more than Molly’s silence. A little time went by and Molly really wanted to just say ‘yes’, one little word, only three letters, but in the end, he only nodded. He couldn’t do more.

“You don’t seem to talk much. That’s no problem, Yasha doesn’t either. We won’t force you to talk. And I think Desmond did say something about you not being very talkative.” Toya chatted on and opened one of Molly’s bags. Together, they put his crazy and a bit extravagant little collection of clothes in the closet, placed his school supplies on the desk and brought his things to the bathroom, where he had his own spot in the cupboard. There wasn’t much to unpack, but during the rather short time they worked, Molly didn’t say a word and it didn’t matter, it was okay. Just as they finished, they were called to dinner.

Molly hadn’t seen much of the first floor yet, only the corridor. This time, Toya led him into the room she had come out not that long ago. They entered the living room, a vast and comfortable space, filled with what Molly thought were carnival mock-ups. They were everywhere, on the shelves, on the little table, on the floor, on the sofa and on the windowsills.

“Gustav and Desmond were part of a carnival when they were younger,” Toya explained for a confused looking Molly and didn’t care that his confusion only grew. 

Another door led to the kitchen, a more organised looking room. The food was already on the table, on which Gustav and Desmond were seated on both ends. The twins suddenly rushed past Molly and Toya and sat down on the chairs that were probably always theirs, so Molly had no idea where he was supposed to sit. He just waited, and when everyone had found their place, he finally sat down himself, between Yasha and Toya. He thought it was a good place.

“Mollymauk, I hope Toya introduced you to everyone,” Gustav said as the food was served and Molly nodded, while Toya answered with a proud ‘I did’. 

“Good, I’m sure we’ll all get along.” Gustav continued and everyone seemed to take those words as an invitation to either start eating – Desmond, Toya and Yasha – or to fire an endless wave of questions at Molly – Mona and Yuli. They were good questions. He wanted to answer, he really did. He wanted to tell them why he had dyed his hair purple or if his name meant something or where he had been before, but the pressure the twins laid on him by asking all these questions didn’t help him to overcome his silence.

“Hush now. Mollymauk will answer your questions when he is ready to talk to us!” Gustav interrupted the twins, who shut up instantly and started eating somewhat huffy Molly gratefully concentrated on his food. 

The sudden silence on the table didn’t last and quickly transformed into a mundane chat about the day. Molly listened curiously to Mona and Yuli complaining about one of their teachers, who expected way too much of his students, to Yasha only saying a few words about a friend helping her with math and to Toya telling them about a school project she was doing with her best friend and another very good friend, and that she was happy that they had been grouped together again. Of course, Molly didn’t participate in the conversations, but he wasn’t left out of them either. They talked to him, told him what they wanted to show him, about school, their friends, the town. They included him in the evening and it didn’t feel forced or faked, it felt natural, as if they’d done it since forever. As if he belonged here. Maybe he already did.  
__________

Molly’s first night in his new home could have been peaceful, but something felt off, something always felt off on those first nights. He just couldn’t fall asleep, no matter how hard he tried. He was restless and his thoughts were a raging storm, trying to destroy his brain. He couldn’t think, he could only worry. ‘What if…?’, his least favourite questions. What if they didn’t want him after all? What if they realised they’d actually hate him? What if they sent him back? What if he was alone again? What if?

Eventually, after sitting up and laying down again in his new bed multiple times, Molly decided to get up and get something to drink. Maybe that would shut his worries up, the movement and the fresh water. He tried to move as quietly as possible, he didn’t want to wake up the entire house, and thought to himself that he was doing pretty well, when suddenly, he heard something odd, something that didn’t quite fit into the scenario. It wasn’t loud, on the contrary, it was so quiet Molly had almost missed it. He wasn’t sure, what exactly it was either, but he knew it came out of little Toya’s room.

After some seconds of consideration, Molly opened her door carefully and peeked into the dark. There wasn’t much to provide light, only the faint glow of Toya’s alarm clock on her bedside table gave him some direction. That and the singing voice he heard. 

At first, Molly didn’t realise it was Toya’s voice, her singing voice was so different than her usual, crackly and weak voice. It was clear, melodic, strong and beautiful. Molly didn’t know the song she sang, but he recognised that it was sad and very gentle, almost soundless. He had no idea what he was supposed to do, so he stayed in the doorway, listening to the song and thinking about just going back to bed and leaving Toya alone. However, the little girl decided for him. The song stopped and Molly could hear the rustling of bedsheets.

“Mollymauk? Is that you?” The damaged voice asked and although he couldn’t see it, Molly could feel Toya’s gaze on him. So he fully entered the room and closed the door behind him as the little girl turned the table lamp on.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” she asked apologetic and Molly shook his head. Toya looked at him, but he could see that she was tired. Not only that, there was sadness in her eyes, and she seemed like a lost deer. Molly didn’t know what to do, he had no possibility of consoling her. He knew her sadness, it was the kind of sadness most foster kids felt, the kind of sadness he often felt.

“You don’t have to stand there, Mollymauk, you can come and sit down. And don’t worry, Yasha couldn’t sleep on her first night here either.” Toya explained and tried to smile at him, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“It’s Molly,” he said. It was crackly and rough and he didn’t think he could say more than a few words, but it were words. He just talked. “Molly to my friends.”

“Did you just… You talked! You talked to me!” Toya said excited and but still not loud enough to wake the others and jumped out of her bed to hug Molly again. 

“I’m proud of you,” she whispered and genuinely smiled and that was everything Molly had wanted. He had wanted to make the little girl happy again.

Toya accompanied him to the kitchen and they both got a glass of water, sitting next to each other on the table, both content with the silence, that wasn’t as silent as before. Neither Molly nor Toya could stop smiling and when they both returned to their rooms, they didn’t have any trouble falling asleep.  
__________

The next morning, Molly woke to a bustling house. He heard the twins arguing and Toya singing and Gustav’s and Desmond’s voices in between of the cacophony of noise, and he could smell breakfast. It was Saturday, so no one was at school and he had two more days to mentally prepare for it. Molly had never liked school. He often struggled to understand the classes and his memory was bad, he never remembered anything, however he didn’t know if that was because of his accident from two years ago, or if it had always been that way. Additionally, it had always been difficult with him not talking. The teachers weren’t happy about it and it gave the other students reason to pick on him. That and his choice of clothing – people thought it was too extra and attention seeking – and his sexuality he did not intend to hide, made him a really easy target. He had not one good memory of school. Fortunately, that wasn’t a problem for today.

A look at his clock told Molly that it was already 11.30. They had let him sleep in, they had probably slept in themselves. Still a bit tired, Molly decided to get dressed and join the others downstairs.

Arriving in the kitchen, he was greeted by chaos. Desmond made what looked like pancakes for an inpatient looking Toya, who complained about something Molly couldn’t make out to Gustav, who tried to calm down an agitated Yuli – or Mona, but Molly was almost sure it was Yuli because her nose was a bit pointier than Mona’s – who looked as if she’d lose consciousness at any moment. Yasha was nowhere to be seen.

“Good morning, Mollymauk,” Mona, who sat on her place with a bowl of cereals, managed to welcome him calmly through all of the noise. “Don’t let them disturb you, you’ll get used to it. Come sit down and eat something.”

At her words, Gustav’s attention shifted from Yuli to Molly.

“A good morning to you, Mollymauk. Please, sit down and eat something, as Mona said. I’ll be with you in a second.” Gustav said in a hurry and left the kitchen with Yuli shortly after.

“Don’t worry, Yuli is just nervous about our gymnastics competition today. She always is, although we’ve won every single one of them till now and today won’t be different.” Mona explained and continued eating her cereals. So the twins were gymnasts. Good ones, too. Something Molly would have to remember.

Still standing in the doorframe, Molly wanted to say ‘good morning’. It was easy, only two words, a phrase everyone used, it would make his new family and himself happy, but he couldn’t. He didn’t find the words, couldn’t grasp them, couldn’t even feel them, and so, disappointed and a bit frustrated, he sat down and listened to Toya’s and Desmond’s discussion.

“But I don’t want to go to the library,” the girl whined, while accepting the plate Desmond handed her. “Why not?”

“Because I don’t like it there. Nott and Velora don’t either. Too many people,” Toya explained and looked like she thought that would change everything. Desmond put a plate with a fresh pancake in front of Molly.

“But you have to finish your school project.” He said as he sat down himself. Toya sighed. “Why can’t we do it at Velora’s house? It’s very, very big, I think her parents are very, very rich. Or at Nott’s house? I’ve never been there, I think. Or here? We’re always here, it’s where we did almost every one of our school projects before.”

“Because in all of those cases, you’ll be alone. The Vessars and Nott’s father are both invited to a wedding, they won’t be at home, and you’re still too young to be left alone,” Desmond interfered.

“I’m twelve and Nott and Velora are eleven, we’re old enough!” Toya protested and this time it was Desmond’s turn to sigh.

“No, you’re not. Nott’s father and Velora’s parents prefer that the three of you go to the library. So do Gustav and I.”

“We’ll be alone at the library, too!” Toya tried, but Desmond destroyed her argument immediately. “Caleb will be there.”

At least that seemed to cheer the little girl up. “Okay, okay. Do you think he’ll help us?” She wanted to know, grabbed the syrup standing in the middle of the table and poured a bit to much on her pancake.

“He’s working, but maybe. As long as he doesn’t end up doing all the work for you.”

“What? We would never let him do that,” Toya declared evasive and handed Molly the syrup. He knew directly that she was lying.

“Oh really? You would never?” Desmond asked unbelieving, being fully aware of the lie as well. 

“That was one time. And Caleb offered to do it. He’s just so smart!” Toya defended herself and started eating her pancake, as if she wanted to run away from the conversation. She couldn’t talk with her mouth full.

“Caleb sounds like a nice guy,” Molly remarked, still holding the syrup and almost dropping it when he realised that he had just spoken to Toya, without even having to think about it. Maybe because he hadn’t thought about it. Desmond and Mona stared at him surprised and Toya was smiling proudly.

“Yes, he is. Caleb’s Nott’s older brother. He’s in the same grade as you, so you’ll definitely meet him. Oh, and Nott is my best friend, so he’s my best friend’s brother,” she explained and Molly only nodded, feeling that Mona stared at him, so he tried to concentrate on his pancake. The words were gone again. Neither Desmond nor Mona commented on it.

Some moments passed and finally, Gustav entered the kitchen again, this time without Yuli, and sat down next to Mona, who finished her breakfast, put her dishes in the sink and ran out of the kitchen, probably to rejoin her twin sister.

“Mona and Yuli have a competition this afternoon and I thought it would be a good idea to go there together. Desmond, Yasha, you and I,” Gustav addressed Molly. “We could spend time together and get to know each other without necessarily having to talk. Does that sound good?”

Molly nodded. He was curious, he had never seen a gymnastics competition and he did want to spend time with Yasha, and with Gustav and Desmond as well, of course. And the other possibility would have been him staying home alone, and that was the worst that could happen to him right now, being alone. He didn’t like being alone. So it wasn’t surprising that he wanted to accompany them.

For the rest of the morning, Molly spent time with Toya, who told him everything she knew about her best friend. Her name was Nott – as Molly already was aware of – and she was very shy and hated attention, apparently there was a problem with the way she looked. But she was also nice and caring and protective, especially when it came to her brother – but only in Caleb’s case, she also had other siblings she loved, but didn’t care about as much. Toya also told Molly about how she and Nott once managed to steal the school janitor’s keys and give them back without anyone noticing. Trouble followed Nott like a shadow, no wonder, with her tendency to steal other people’s things, even if they weren’t very valuable. Molly was sure he would like her.

Due to the late breakfast – that could have been seen as brunch – they didn’t eat anything for lunch, but Gustav announced that they’d go to the little diner in the town centre after the twins’ competition. 

Very soon, Molly was in Gustav’s car again, but this time, they weren’t alone. In the back, Mona still tried to put Yuli’s mind at ease. Both girls were already in make-up and they had a big bag standing between them, containing all the stuff they needed for the competition, Molly was a bit surprised that it was more than he would have expected. He sat in between Toya and Yasha – who had appeared out of nowhere – again.

The ride to the library wasn’t long, and when Toya jumped out of the car to join her best friend and her other very good friend, Molly was a bit sad that she wouldn’t be with them at the competition. He didn’t understand why, but he already missed the little girl, although he knew that he would see her again in the evening.

The rest of the way passed in a blur, Molly couldn’t concentrate on what was happening, that happened now and then, always when he was agitated, and so, he suddenly sat on a plastic seat in a big sports hall, without knowing how he got there, surrounded by strangers. Too many strangers.

Molly still saw Yasha, Gustav and Desmond, he knew they were there, but somehow, he also didn’t. A wave of panic overran him, he didn’t know wether it was the claustrophobia or the fear of being alone, he panicked. His breath accelerated, his hands started shaking and he felt cold sweat on his forehead. It wasn’t a new feeling.

However, luckily, his panic attack stopped before it could start. Molly composed himself, his breath steadied. Looking down at his left hand, he saw the reason. Yasha was holding it loosely, but still strongly. Right now, her hand was Molly’s anchor, his path back to reality. Yasha wasn’t looking at him at all, her eyes focused on the entrance to the contestant’s quarters, waiting for Mona and Yuli to come out. For the whole competition, Molly held onto Yasha’s hand, as if he died, should he let go of her.

The competition began, the contestants came and went, Molly didn’t remember what they did. He noticed Mona and Yuli just barely, but didn’t see their performance clearly. The only clear thing right now was Yasha’s hand.

Mona and Yuli won. Molly cheered with Gustav and Desmond, and, although he hadn’t been able to pay attention, was a bit proud of the twins’ accomplishment. Yasha’s hand disappeared as she clapped, but Molly ascertained relieved that he didn’t need it anymore.

They waited for Mona and Yuli outside of the hall and while Gustav and Desmond chatted with other parents, Molly wandered around a bit and found Yasha sitting alone on a bench, staring at the evening sky. The sun was about to set and both the moon and some stars were already in sight. She didn’t pay any attention at him.

“Thank you,” Molly said, relieved that the words had come fast and naturally. Yasha still didn’t look at him, but smiled, and finally, after some moments, answered. “There’s nothing to thank me for.”

Molly wanted to object, but decided against it, he didn’t want to ruin the moment with arguing, so he just sat down next to Yasha, watching the sunset and waiting.  
__________

The diner was a beacon of light in a street full of closed stores and dark buildings. It wasn’t too crowded, and emanated a calm atmosphere, and the family found a comfortable and large enough booth in the back of the little restaurant. Toya – they had picked her up from the library on their way here – told them proudly that she, Nott and Velora had finished their school project on time, and that they had only needed a little bit of help from Nott’s brother. A waiter the same age as Molly and Yasha – a tall and handsome, also a bit chubby boy – took their order and somehow, the conversation shifted to school.

“You’ll start in the middle of the term, that may be a bit difficult. But if you’re having any problems, we have a pretty good tutoring system, so you’ll get the help you need,” Gustav explained. As school principal, he could talk quite a bit about school. “Sadly though, you may be too late to join the after-school activities. To get into any of the sport teams, you have to be there for the try-outs and they’re already over.”

“I’m not interested in sports anyway.” Molly clarified and was grateful that the words didn’t let him down. And he really had never been much of a sports person. 

“What would you be interested in?” Desmond asked and Molly shrugged. “Drama Club, maybe? But that would be hard, words can be… tricky.”

“You could always try. And there are many other roles to play in a Drama Club than an actor,” Gustav continued encouraging. “But I’m not sure what they’re currently doing.”

The food arrived and Molly thought the conversation was over, but Yasha surprised them.

“Fjord?” She addressed the waiter, the same boy as before. “What are you doing in Drama Club right now?”

The boy stopped surprised and let his sight wander over the group sitting in front of him. Everyone was looking at him expectantly. 

“Ehm, Jester and I finally decided on what play we’ll perform. Casting starts this Tuesday,” he reported in a very dark, very accented voice. “Are you thinking of coming to the casting?” He asked Yasha unbelieving and encouraging at the same time. She blushed. “Oh… ehm… no, I’m just asking for Mollymauk.”

Fjord looked at the person Yasha was pointing at and seemed to only now realise that Molly was there.  
“Oh. Hi. I don’t think we’ve met yet,” he remarked politely and reached out his hand. “I’m Fjord, it’s nice to make your acquaintance.”

“Mollymauk. Molly to my friends,” he introduced himself and shook the other boy’s hand.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you at the casting then. Or maybe in a class we’ll have together.”

“Yes.”

“Mr. Fletching, Mr. Moondrop, have a nice evening,” Fjord said goodbye, smiled at Yasha, Molly, Toya and the twins and then went back behind the counter.

“Looks as if you’ve already made a friend,” Toya said excited and Molly wanted to tell her that it was never that easy to find friends, but he didn’t want to destroy Toya’s excitement, and if he was perfectly honest to himself, he wished finding friends were this easy, so he decided not to speak, although he could have.  
__________

The air was cold, but Molly was happy about that. It made him feel easier, lighter, it made him calmer. The last two days had been overwhelming, but the good kind of overwhelming. He liked them. He liked Gustav and Desmond and Mona and Yuli and especially Toya and Yasha. They made him feel like he was home, welcome and safe, they felt like home themselves. Something he hadn’t felt in a very long time, something new.

Molly didn’t feel the urge to smoke, and that was definitely something new. He had smoked for as long as he could remember, not constantly, but sometimes, when he was nervous or in a new environment or in a stressful situation. It was a bad habit, he knew that, but he also hadn’t really cared. Now he did. He didn’t even bring his cigarettes. The new family seemed to bring out a better side of Molly.

The garden behind the house was beautiful and peaceful. There were three trees – an apple tree, a cherry tree and a plum tree – several shrubs – strawberries, raspberries, currants and brambles– and the air always smelled of herbs, Molly didn’t know enough about those to distinct the different scents. In the middle of the area was a pond, out of which a handful of water lilies grew. Molly loved it very much.

He didn’t stay in the garden for long, the cold October air made him shiver and he could see his breath forming little clouds. The days had still been more or less warm, but the nights brought the low temperatures, so he returned to the cozy warmth of the interior. When he went to bed, he almost instantly fell asleep.  
__________

There wasn’t much happening on Sunday. Desmond and Gustav had work to do, Mona and Yuli made their homework and except for lunch, Yasha didn’t leave her room, so Molly spent the morning and afternoon with Toya, trying not to think too much about the following day, that was inevitably his first day of school. They mostly drew, Toya hummed while trying to perfect her nonexistent drawing skills and Molly doodled ideas for tattoos. As soon as he was allowed, he would overpaint the red eye tattoos with other permanent ink. He already had some pretty good ideas, including serpents, peacocks and pyramids.

As the afternoon transformed into early evening, Molly found himself standing in front of Yasha’s bedroom. The girl had helped him multiple times now, either knowing or accidentally, but they still hadn’t had the chance to talk, was it because of Molly’s occasional loss of words or because Yasha was nowhere to be found. He could hear her moving inside, and as he prepared to knock on the door, it already opened.

“Come inside,” Yasha invited him in, as if she’d known he wanted to talk to her by only looking at him. He entered her room, and it hadn’t changed at all, it was exactly the same as the last time he was in here.

“I like your flowers,” Molly started the conversation clumsily and sat down by the desk, watching Yasha as she took her place on the bed and answered. “Thank you. I like them as well.”

He watched at the colourful mix of plants, that were distributed in the room in no particular organisation, at least that was what it looked like, and his gaze got stuck at one certain pot. It had what could be considered the best place in the whole room, on the windowsill near Yasha’s bed, and held delicate, wonderful blue flowers.

“The blue ones are nice. What are those?” Molly asked and could see Yasha’s face lighten up. “I don’t actually know. I got them from a friend.”

“A friend? Or a ‘friend’?” Molly wondered, pretty sure that he had interpreted Yasha’s facial expression the right way and that the flowers had been a romantic gesture.

“I’m not sure yet,” Yasha clarified, but didn’t elaborated, so she left Molly speculating about her possible ‘friend’.

“I think you’ll get along with my friends,” she said after some moments of comfortable silence.

“I hope so.” Molly never had had real friends. They had been school mates, acquaintances, people he knew, but never friends. Another thing he wanted to change here. He wanted to have friends.

“You’ve already met Fjord. And we’re pretty many, we’re a big group, so you’ll probably find someone you’d like to be friends with. They’re all nice, a bit weird, and we all have our issues, but we’re nice,” Yasha went on and Molly was a little confused. Yasha gave him the impression to be more of a loner. “You don’t seem like someone who likes big groups though.”

“I don’t know how it happened, Jester kind of dragged me there. And I like everyone, so it’s okay,” she explained and Molly thought he understood. She was friends with the friends of a friend. That was one way of making aquaintances.

“Jester?” He asked, he had the feeling he had heard that name already. And it wasn’t a common name, so it had probably been the same person.

“You’ll like her. She’s adorable,” Yasha presumed and when she said so, it had to be true, Molly thought.

“She’s not your ‘friend’, is she?” He wanted to know.

“No,” Yasha said. Silence found her room again and Molly felt the doubts trying to occupy his head. They were Yasha’s friends, yes, but that didn’t mean they would be Molly’s friends as well. The ‘What if…?’ questions came back, haunting him.

“What if we don’t share the same interests?” He finally asked what he considered the most important question for the moment, fearing to lose something he didn’t even have.

“We’re all very different. I honestly don’t know how or why the group came to be, we don’t have that much in common.” Yasha clarified, but that didn’t ease Molly’s thoughts, essentially because for the first time, Molly had the feeling that Yasha wasn’t completely honest with him.

“But there has to be something that holds you together,” he tried to get the truth out of the girl.

“We protect each other. And we don’t want to be alone. And we help each other. We’re there for each other. I think that’s enough,” Yasha explained and although Molly was sure that wasn’t eveything, he didn’t dig deeper. Maybe the group’s past simply wasn’t any of his business. Anyway, he also thought that those were pretty good prospects. Maybe he would really fit in, and maybe, he would someday find out what Yasha was trying to hide.

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Molly admitted, because in the end, he was very excited to meet Yasha’s friends.  
__________

The parking lot was almost empty, they had arrived that early. They were probably even among the first ones there. With Gustav being the school principal, that would be something Molly had to get used to. The school buildings were different than most Molly had seen before, and he had been in a lot of different schools during the two years he could remember and they had all looked very alike. The Academy was much more welcoming, Molly felt neither like he had to run away, nor like he was stuck in a disguised prison. The buildings were old, they even seemed historical, Molly didn’t know if it was just built that way or if it was just old. They exited the car, and approached the main building, the biggest one.

“Welcome to the Fletching and Moondrop Academy. I really hope you’ll find your place here,” Gustav said as he opened the front doors – more like old wooden gates – and led his two fosterlings into the school. It was empty and quiet, lifeless, but Molly was sure this would change as soon as the halls were filled with students and teachers and their chatter and laughter.

“Yasha, would you show Molly around? I would do it, but Mr. Ikithon wanted to talk to me. I’ll see you around, and if not, I’ll see you at my car after school,” Gustav said, then he disappeared in the depths of the building. Before Molly could say anything, Yasha took the word:

“Trent Ikithon, psychologist, students are supposed to pay him a visit if they have problems. But I wouldn’t go to him if I were you.”

“Why not?”, Molly asked confused. He didn’t trust adults in general, but most psychologists he had met – and that had been many, amnesia and mutism was something many people thought they had to fix – wanted to genuinely help him.

“I’m not sure, but I don’t really trust him,” Yasha answered vaguely and, even though they’d only known each other for a little while, he trusted Yasha enough not to question her.

“Alright, would you lead the way?”, Molly asked and Yasha watched him for a moment, quiet and curious, before she started the tour. The first thing Molly noticed were the colourful halls. The different sections of the school were indicated by the colours of the walls – green for the science corridor, red for languages, yellow for art, and so on – and Molly really liked it, it wasn’t boring or plain. Maybe he would be happy here. Maybe this was the first school he would actually enjoy attending. 

After Yasha had showed him everything, the building they were currently in – there were three – was still empty. Molly hadn’t realised how early they had arrived. Knowing that there was still time until the first period and only class he had together with Yasha started, he thought it was a good idea to use the restroom before classes began. It wasn’t far from their first classroom and so Yasha waited there for him.

Molly would have expected the restroom to be empty, he hadn’t yet seen any other students, but he was proven wrong as soon as he entered the room. The other boy stood in front of the sink, his hair was a red mess and he looked like he was in pain, both mentally and physically. He didn’t notice Molly while grabbing onto the edge of the sink, eyes closed and slightly shaking. He was a stranger, but nonetheless, Molly worried.

“Are you okay?”, he asked, knowing that the other boy was far from okay, but it got him a reaction, it drew the boy’s piercing blue gaze on him. Molly detected surprise inside of his eyes, but they seemed otherwise empty, with a tiny glimpse of fear. Both boys stood there, in silence, before the other boy grabbed his backpack and rushed past Molly, out of the room, without saying a word. Molly didn’t know why, but he felt weird.

When he rejoined Yasha, she wasn’t the only student waiting in the hall anymore. The corridor slowly filled up with people and soon, the lifeless atmosphere had transformed into a buzzing beehive. 

“Are you okay?”, Yasha asked and Molly nodded. He was still worrying about the strange red-haired boy, but he didn’t think to ask Yasha about him.


	2. Scene 2 - A Tree in the Backyard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Molly finds people that could be friends.

Molly was lost. For first period, he had something with numbers and letters and Molly had never been good in math – or in school in general – so he gave up trying to understand what he was supposed to understand pretty quickly. It didn’t make any difference for him, it wasn’t much unlike every other math class he had been sitting in. He rather observed the other students. Something he had always liked to do, watching other people, seeing how diverse everyone was from each other. Luckily, he and Yasha sat in the back row, he had most of the students already in his view, so he could do it without drawing too much of the teacher’s attention to him. He wasn’t eager to start his day with something as unpleasant as having to talk to the teacher. 

There were only three people that looked interesting to him. Of course Molly was aware that the others probably had very interesting personalities, not all, but surely at least half of the students, but a personality wasn’t something you could look at, so Molly sticked with appearances for now. The part with the personalities would come later.

The first interesting looking person was obviously Yasha, with her height, her hair, her eyes and her striking presence. She instantly drew attention to herself when entering a room, which made her feel terribly awkward, as Molly had noticed. Her facial expression stayed stoic through all of the class and she didn’t relax once. Most people seemed to avoid her, which Molly thought was both good and a shame. Yasha was obviously happy to be left alone, but the others were also clearly missing out on a wonderful human being.

Interesting person number two was a boy sitting across the room in the front row. He had a darker complexion and thick, long black hair, that was held back in a braid. He emanated an aura of confidence, exactly knowing that people were constantly looking at him. Opposite to Yasha, he enjoyed the attention. His clothes were mostly purple, adorned with little golden patterns, and looked both comfortable and glorious at the same time. All in all, Molly thought he was very attractive. In addition, he seemed to understand everything he was copying down from the blackboard, he regularly answered questions and wasn’t wrong once.

Last but not least, the third interesting person was sitting right in front of Molly. Her wavy hair was dyed in two different colours, blue and pink, and only went as far as to her shoulders. Her clothes were of light blues, whites and pinks, her skirt looked very much like a tutu, taking all the space under her desk, and the jacket hanging on her chair was of a subtler green, and Molly wasn’t sure if all of those colours were well matched. Instead of paying any attention to what the teacher was saying, she doodled in her sketchbook, looking very concentrated. It was a collection of caricatures of the teacher and other students, and dicks. Molly watched her hands move along the paper and time went by quicker, the school bell ended the class and so he and Yasha had to part ways sooner rather than later.

“So, you know where to go now, right?” Yasha asked as they left the classroom, and Molly nodded distracted, watching the masses of students running through the halls, all of them still strangers. He wondered which of them he would get to know better, which of them he would like, which of them he would hate. A little part of him was also hoping to see the red-haired boy in the crowd.

“Are you sure?” He heard Yasha ask further.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Molly confirmed, pulled out of his thoughts and search, but when he looked at Yasha, he could only watch her vanish in the crowds. He had no idea where to go now. He knew it was his own fault, he had indirectly sent Yasha away, but he wouldn’t admit it. He wandered around a bit, and when the corridors became emptier and emptier, he decided that he had waited long enough and so he entered the first room he could find. 

Molly immediately knew he wasn’t where he was supposed to be. The classroom wasn’t like the one before, instead of wooden desks, he stood in front of four rows of long tables, a couple of shelves standing in the back, filled with vials and ampullae full of liquids, and several utensils Molly knew from former chemistry classes. However, he knew that he definitely didn’t have chemistry now, he didn’t think he even had chemistry this year at all. What he had instead was the attention of every single person in the room, the students’ as well as the teacher’s.

“Do you need something?” the teacher asked, clearly confused, as well as any other person in the classroom, so Molly explained quickly. “I have no idea where I am or where I have to go, I’m new here and got lost. And I’m very sorry that I’m disturbing your class.”

Surprisingly, he didn’t sound helpless or unsure or stupid, he actually seemed rather confident. He didn’t know how he was doing that. The teacher looked at him for some moments, then she smiled and – without him realising how much he had needed it – made Molly feel safe within less than a second.

“Well, that’s no problem, I’m sure we can help you,” she offered and before Molly was able to thank her, one of the students spoke up. “I could help you, I’m sure my lab partners survive some minutes without me.”

The suggestion came from a short girl with kind eyes, dark brown hair and a bright, friendly smile on her face, sitting between two boys. One of them was white-haired – unusual considering his age – wore a pair of round glasses and seemed a bit too serious. The other one was someone Molly had already seen that day. However, his piercing blue eyes did not look empty anymore, but curious and analysing, calmly watching at Molly as if for the first time.

“Hi,” Molly said to no one particular, but in his mind, it was addressed at the red-haired boy and no one else. They stared at each other for some seconds that felt like minutes, Molly was forgetting the world around him, only focusing on the boy, trying to figure out what was wrong with him by only looking at his beautiful eyes. He didn’t notice the nice girl standing in front of him until she started speaking again. “Where do you have to be?”

“Literature, room A-23,” Molly answered, hoping that he remembered it right, although it wouldn’t be a surprise if he hadn’t. He’d just check again later, when he wasn’t a whole class’s subject of interest. The girl continued smiling at him. “Great. Off we go.”

He followed her quickly paced out of the classroom, she walked fast for someone with such short legs, leading him through the colourful corridors, determined, knowing exactly where she had to go, naturally, she had walked these floors for years already. 

“I’m Pike Trickfoot. And who am I helping?” The girl asked randomly, waited until they went side by side instead of one after another and looked at Molly, still smiling that warm smile of hers that made him feel warm and comfortable.

“Oh, Mollymauk. Molly to my friends,” he answered, the words flowing easily now, and smiled back, probably not nearly as bright as Pike did, but it was an honest smile, that was enough.

“It’s nice to meet you, Molly,” she said, took a turn and they started climbing the stairs, up to the second floor, meeting one or two stray students wandering through the empty halls. Pike greeted everyone, and her smile didn’t change, even if the others didn’t greet back.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Molly muttered, a bit late and a bit too quietly, he wasn’t sure Pike had heard him, it didn’t seem like it.

“I hope they don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone,” she murmured more to herself than to Molly, watching back to where they had come from, while stopping in front of a classroom door, the sign on the side showing the number 23, exactly where Molly had to be. “And here we are. See you later.”

“Thank you,” Molly thanked as the girl started to make her way back to her own classroom.

“You’re welcome,” were the last words he heard from her before she disappeared down the staircase again, her clear and friendly voice ringing through the empty hall and bringing a slight smile on Molly’s face. Not even a second later, he was alone again, standing in the middle of a quiet floor, hearing only the slight muffling of voices on the other side of the classroom door. After waiting another couple of short moments, he took a deep breath and entered the classroom he had been supposed to be in at least fifteen minutes earlier.

Upon his entrance, everything went quiet. The teacher, standing at the blackboard and writing something down Molly couldn’t decipher – either because of his standpoint at the door or because the teacher’s handwriting was awful and practically illegible – stared at him and didn’t seem to be amused at all.

“And who are you?” He asked in a harsh tone, unfriendly and annoyed by the disturbance, expecting an answer from Molly he wasn’t able to give right now, in this particular moment. 

“Are you my new student?”

The words were gone, not even stuck in his throat, but truly gone. Before he could prevent it, he felt fear swell up in the back of his head, trying to take over his mind, and banishing all possibilities of communicating. It was even hard to simply nod. Hopefully the outside world didn’t notice. 

“Then go sit down. And answer with words when I ask something.” The teacher instructed coldly and turned back to the blackboard, refocusing on whatever it was he had been talking about before, while Molly tried to walk confidently, but what was if anything a quick stumble, to the only free chair, unfortunately in the first row. For the rest of the class, the teacher ignored him, as if to punish him, although it was a relief, and Molly just copied down whatever was written on the blackboard, as far as he was able to identify the words. Some time went by, very slowly, and maybe ten minutes before the bell would save them from one terrible class only to introduce the next one, something good finally happened. 

“He’s a bit of a dick,” Molly heard a voice behind him, obviously talking to him, with a strange accent he couldn’t really distinguish, maybe Russian, but he wasn’t sure. 

“Who?” He asked, although fully knowing who the girl was talking about, however, he didn’t turn around to see who it was that talked to him.

“The teacher. Good thing though, he’s so fixed on himself that he doesn’t notice when we’re talking to each other,” she explained cheery, and after some silent seconds, she continued. “I saw you with Yasha this morning.”

“You know Yasha?” Molly asked curiously, this time he turned around and detected the girl sitting behind him, arms crossed on the table and resting her head on them. He recognised her, from the first period, the girl with pink and blue hair. She wasn’t doodling in her sketchbook anymore, but it lay next to her head, open and displaying a drawing of Molly himself, but with horns, a tail, purple skin and blood red eyes. She looked from the drawing up to Molly as she answered, as if he should have known it. “Of course I know Yasha. We’re very good friends.”

“You don’t happen to be Jester?” Molly asked, remembering that one name Yasha had told him, and hoped he was right. It was a shot in the dark, Yasha had more than one friend, but one could always try. 

“Yes! How did you know that? Are you a psychic?” She raised her head from her arms and her clear blue eyes started shimmering excited and fascinated, her already quite cheery attitude became even cheerier.

“I just had a feeling,” Molly answered, which wasn’t even a lie or a way to make him seem interesting and mysterious, he did have a feeling.

“So you are a psychic!” Jester exclaimed, this time stating a fact, convinced and not persuaded otherwise, instead of asking a question.

“I’m Molly, by the way,” he finally introduced himself.

“Jester. But you already knew that,” the girl replied and smiled brightly and excited. “What do you have next period?”

“Biology, I think,” Molly first guessed and then checked his crumbled schedule he had stuffed in his pocket, realising surprised that he had guessed right.

“Oh. We won’t have that class together. But I can bring you to you classroom if you like,” Jester noted a bit disappointed, starting to play with her pencil in her right hand, but successfully hid it under a cover of cheer.

“That would be nice,” Molly replied the moment the bell rang. The teacher shouted something about homework, but everyone already rushed to the door uninterested and not caring and his words drowned in the chaos. Molly waited for Jester to pick up all of her pencils and her sketchbook and to stuff everything in her bag. She grabbed him by the wrist and lead him out of the classroom and down the stairs again. After some walking, Molly noticed that the classroom seemed to be on the other side of the building, but the girl didn’t have any haste to her. 

“I really like your hair,” she said almost randomly and smiled at Molly, who could only give back the compliment. “Thanks. Yours is pretty awesome as well.”

“I know, thank you,” she answered and paused. “If you need anything, ask Fjord, he should have this class with you. He’s the most handsome one. We’ll probably see each other again today. Have fun until then!” She said and then quickly disappeared between the other students and although Molly would have thought she’d be easy to spot with her colourful hair and clothes, he couldn’t make her out, so he decided to just enter the classroom which she had left him in front of.

“Hi. Are you Mollymauk?” The teacher asked almost instantly and caught Molly somewhat off guard. However, she wasn’t like the one before, she seemed nice, and she had welcomed him with a warm smile, so it wasn’t hard for him to answer, everything he needed was after all only one word. “Yes.”

“Perfect. I have an even number of students in my class now, that’s good for the group projects. Then we won’t have those endless discussions anymore. You can sit down back there,” she explained and gestured to a free seat in the last row, next to a boy that looked – for the lack of a better term – like a typical jock. He was big, muscular, bald, could already be twenty, wore a varsity jacket and honestly looked a bit scary. But Molly wasn’t someone to judge on first impressions, so he simply made his way to his seat and watched the remaining students enter the classroom. The other boy didn’t seem to notice him.

As everyone sat down, the teacher started talking. She explained something, but Molly’s concentration didn’t last long enough to pay the necessary amount of attention to understand anything she was saying. Instead, he looked for interesting people again, trying to make the fifty minutes seem shorter. It wasn’t hard to find one. Molly only had to watch forward to see the pink-haired boy and the one sitting next to him, Fjord, the handsome waiter he had already met.

The teacher stopped talking and after a second of crushing silence, everyone around them proceeded to work, and Molly could just stare at the utensils laying in front of him, that had already been there when he had entered, without any clue on what he was supposed to do now. 

“Do you have any idea what we have to do?” He asked his neighbour, looking at him and instantly knowing that the answer would be no. His intuition wasn’t disappointed by the answer. 

“No. I mean, they call me Professor Grog, but no,” the boy answered and Molly had to laugh. The absolute seriousness in Grog’s voice made the words seem quite comical. However, it didn’t help in their current situation. Molly usually liked biology, but even that didn’t give him enough concentration to listen carefully to the teacher’s instructions. 

“Okay, then let’s just-“ he decided and wanted to move, but got interrupted by Fjord before he could touch anything. “I wouldn’t do that, if I were you!”

Molly looked up and saw that both Fjord and the pink-haired boy were looking at them, one worryingly and indecisive, the other one analysing and calm. Molly wasn’t sure how to react, so he just leaned back, crossed his arms and grinned. Fjord’s eyes narrowed sceptically while the pink-haired boy just smiled and proceeded to work on his own desk, not paying any further attention to either Molly or Fjord.

“Then what would you do if you were me?” Molly asked, deciding that he had been quiet long enough and that this class shouldn’t be for nothing. He had to do at least something, even if it meant only following instructions of another student that might be wrong himself. However that was better than doing nothing at all. Molly saw Fjord visibly sighting, flashing the pink-haired boy a look, who watched up from his project and simply shrugged. “Okay, listen. You gotta…”

For the next half hour, Fjord and Caduceus – the pink-haired one, as Molly learned – both took turns to explain to Molly and Grog what they were supposed to do while managing to do their own work. In that short time, Molly observed that, despite their completely different personalities, Fjord and Caduceus were a good team. While Caduceus didn’t spend a lot of time explaining things and only told them what they had to do exactly in an always calm tone of voice, Fjord made sure they understood more or less what they were doing. 

When the bell ended the class, Molly felt as if he really had accomplished something – with help, yes, but in the end, their experiment had succeeded. It made him feel good and warm and happy. He had rarely enough motivation to end what he had started. 

“No one of you happens to have History now?” Molly asked as he left the room together with Grog, Fjord and Caduceus, both because he didn’t want to have to find the room all on his own again and because he had taken quite a liking to the three.

“I do!” Grog answered enthusiastically as if his life depended on it, as if he had something to prove. Again, he made Molly laugh. 

“Just follow him, he knows the way,” Caduceus said, his relaxed – and therefore relaxing – voice reassuring Molly. After a nod from Fjord and a last smile from Caduceus, they joined the masses of students, all walking in different directions and were swallowed within seconds and Molly was left looking up at Grog’s face. “You do know the way, right?”

“Come on, I’m not stupid,” Grog claimed and started walking. 

Surprisingly, they arrived in the next classroom before the teacher did, and while Grog didn’t seem to care much more for him and only sat down in the back of the room, Molly decided to just do the same and chose a free seat. 

“Hey!” An excited and already known voice exclaimed and its owner took her place right next to Molly.

“Jester, hey,” Molly said as he recognised the person, who had entered with another girl looming behind her. She had dark skin, wore a dark blue top without sleeves and a pair of cargo pants, a blue jacket slung around her waist. Her dark hair was held in a bun on top of her head, showing the undercut. Her bare arms were muscular and Molly was sure she would be able to crush him very easily, and he also wouldn’t be surprised if she really did considering the frown her face was twisted to.

“Molly, meet Beauregard, Beau, meet Mollymauk,” Jester introduced the two strangers and the other girl only uttered an annoyed ‘Hey’ before sitting down behind the red-haired boy Molly just now discovered to be in here as well and started a conversation with him. 

“Anyway, I’ll introduce you to the rest of my friends during lunch break,” Jester announced and opened her sketchbook again, ready to doodle whatever it was she thought of first.

“Oh, I should probably look for Yasha and spend the break with her,” Molly explained, regretting somewhat that he couldn’t spend more time with Jester, who he really liked, but he also wanted to see Yasha. No, he needed to see Yasha. Contrary to his expectations, Jester didn’t look disappointed, instead, her smile grew bigger.

“Don’t worry, she’ll be there, too. We’re always eating together, most of our group will be there.”

“Well, then I can’t wait to meet all of your friends,” Molly said and Jester gave him a satisfied grin before shifting her attention to her sketchbook.

The class started and Molly didn’t even try to listen to the teacher. Instead, he observed the other students in his class again, no, actually only one student – who would have believed otherwise – the red-haired boy from the morning. 

He listened attentively, took notes almost as fast as the teacher was talking and looked both very concentrated and interested in the topic. His shoulder length red hair – slightly curly – was still a mess, but held back with a ribbon, which created the illusion of it being neater. The clothes he was wearing were simple, of a dark brown and comfortable. He didn’t stick out, had Molly not seen him this morning he wouldn’t even pay any attention to him, but now he couldn’t keep his eyes from the boy. Molly couldn’t forget the expression of pain in his face this morning, the empty eyes staring at him, he couldn’t get the pictures out of his head.

He wanted to know what was going on. He didn’t know the other boy, but he had to know what was going on with him. He needed to know what caused his pain, he wanted to fill those empty eyes with joy and life and love, he felt the urge to protect him. He couldn’t explain why, it just was that way. 

Time flew by and sooner rather than later, Molly followed Jester out of the school building, a plate with food in his hands, towards a tree in the backyard. It wasn’t a big tree, but it was the only one here and it seemed to be the centre of the backyard, separating the benches and eating tables from the playing fields. 

Yasha was already there, leaning against the tree, sitting peacefully, eyes closed, but nonetheless listening to the conversation happening in front of her.

“Hello everyone! You guys, this is Molly,” Jester announced, disrupting the conversation and instantly drawing all of the attention to her and Molly. Yasha opened her eyes, and Molly realised that he already knew most of the people sitting there. Fjord, Beauregard and Grog. There were only two unknown people, a red-haired girl that looked at Molly with both an open-minded as well as a sceptical expression on her face, and a black-haired boy who smiled friendly.

“Hi. So these are your friends,” Molly asked surprised, from what Yasha and Jester had told him before, he had expected more people. This was a little gathering, not a big group. Not that he had a problem with it. It simply didn’t match his expectations. 

“Oh, we’re not complete,” Jester explained and Beau, still frowning and seeming to be not entirely happy about Molly’s presence, added. “Yeah, there’s still some people missing.”

“Yes, where’s Vex? She should be here by now,” the other girl, the one Molly didn’t know yet, asked slightly concerned. Her eyes darted around rapidly, inspecting the courtyard thoroughly, while Molly decided to sit down next to Yasha. As soon as he had found the right spot, he saw, as well as the red-haired girl, another girl approaching the group. Molly didn’t know her either, but he could see that she looked very similar to the black-haired boy, who started answering the previously asked question. “Oh, she’s probably following Freddy around like a little puppy again.”

“Ehm, Vax…” The red-haired girl said carefully and pointed to the girl that now stood right behind Vax, arms crossed and frowning slightly. 

“Oh, hi Stubby,” the boy greeted her without even having to look at her and then continued enjoying his meal, as if nothing happened.

“I’m not following Percy around, why would I? And I’m not a puppy!” The new girl, obviously Vex, complained, but sat nonetheless down next to who was very obviously her brother. Molly however was very confused right now.

“Okay, wait a moment, what’s up with your names?” He asked and received the twins’ attention for the first time. However, it was Jester who instantly answered “They’re Vex and Vax!” as if it was completely obvious.

“I’m Vex’ahlia, he’s Vax’ildan, but you can call us Vex and Vax, you’ll get used to it and everyone does it, but get’s it wrong almost every time, so you won’t be the only one. And who are you, dear, if I might ask?” Vex explained and asked in return.

“I’m Mollymauk, Molly to my friends.”

Vex smiled at him and nodded, then there was one second of silence before everyone started or continued eating and little conversations developed among the group. The twins were either arguing or vividly discussing something, Molly couldn’t tell the difference, he wasn’t even sure if there was a difference at all. Keyleth – as the red-haired girl had introduced herself – was chatting with Grog and Fjord, while Jester was telling Beau and Yasha excitedly about the play she and Fjord had picked out to perform with the drama club. Molly was content to only listen and not engage in the conversations. He was only sitting there, enjoying his meal – the school’s food was surprisingly good – and observed. The others didn’t seem to be bothered by his presence and they had accepted and welcomed him without questioning.

Something like a quarter hour into lunch break, the group received an addition. A petite figure appeared next to Grog, a face that wasn’t unknown to Molly. Pike seemed to have been in a hurry, breathing heavily, some strands of her hair had left the neat ponytail and as soon as she was sitting down, she was visibly relaxing.

“Hi guys,” she said and, acknowledging Molly, she smiled brightly. “Nice to see you again, Molly.”

He smiled back, but before he could answer anything, although he didn’t really know what to say, Vex already started talking. “Oh, Pike, great you’re here, we need to change partners in chemistry.”

“Why, because you wanna be with Percy?” Her twin teased and if Vex’ look could kill, Vax would drop dead right here and right now. “No, because we don’t get any work done, because you and Shaun don’t stop flirting with each other! No matter how often I tell you to stop.”

“What are you complaining about? I have chemistry with the two scariest girls in school. I would love to trade that for Vax and Shaun anytime!” Keyleth intercepted and frowned, while Molly was curious about who Shaun was and what made Keyleth’s chemistry partners the scariest girls in school. 

“Keyleth, dear, I’m very sorry about that, but you’re not in our class, we can’t help you, and Pike, please. Your team’s overpowered anyway,” Vex continued complaining and Pike gave the impression that she was very conflicted, as if on one hand, she really wanted to help, but on the other hand, she didn’t and it wasn’t possible.

“I… we’re not overpowered,” she tried, but the tone of her voice revealed that she didn’t believe what she was saying herself, so she wasn’t convincing at all. “Okay, maybe we are, but we work well together. I don’t think we can change that.”

Vex sighed beaten and gave up with Pike. She redirected her gaze toward her next target instead. “Fjord?”

“Don’t look at me like that, I’m happy with my team,” Fjord immediately objected and tried to avoid Vex’ piercing gaze by concentrating on his food. The girl sighed again. “Of course you are, you have Nila, the nicest girl on earth, and Caduceus, the accidental stoner.”

“It’s not my fault Caduceus and I are a good team,” Fjord said almost apologetic and Vex shook her head.

“Wait, how can you be an accidental stoner?” Molly asked Yasha, but it was Jester who answered in her usual voice free of any worries, as if all of this was perfectly normal. “He makes tea out of every plant he can find. Sometimes that’s the marijuana Beau hides in the green house, sometimes that’s plants no one has ever seen before. We don’t actually know where he finds them.” 

“I’ll talk to Shaun, I’m sure we can find another time to flirt,” Vax finally gave in and although Vex didn’t look completely satisfied, she seemed to calm down at least a bit. “Thank you.”

“Where’s Caleb?” Beau asked unprompted and unexpected, out of nothing, but she nonetheless received and answer almost instantly.

“He’s in the science studio with Percy,” Vex answered, not revealing where she had got the information, which gave Vax a new opportunity to tease his sister. “And why do you know that?”

“Because I saw them walking in that direction on my way out here and just assumed they’d be there, you know, because they’re Percy and Caleb and they’re in there most of the time, working on Percy’s robot,” Vex explained annoyed and proceeded to eat, ignoring her brother’s chuckle.

“Did she just say robot?” Molly asked confused and somewhat overwhelmed by all the information he received all at once. Beau rolled her eyes, as if he was supposed to already know every little detail about these strangers. “Yeah, they’re nerds.”

Then, she engaged in a conversation with Jester, and everything went back to how it was in the beginning. Little conversations started, food was eaten, doughnuts were shared – Jester had procured a whole box full of fresh doughnuts from her bag, of which she ate the most herself – and Molly was leaning back on the tree, next to Yasha, silent but content, enjoying his food and half listening to the others. Like that, lunch break flew by quickly and on his way to the next classroom with Jester, Molly was intercepted by Yasha.

“Are you okay?” She asked with slight worry in her eyes and voice. 

“Yes, sure,” Molly answered truthfully. “Good. Do you like them?”

“Yes. I really do,” he said and was relieved to see the happiness in Yasha’s expression. It wasn’t obvious, and he only saw it because her eyes were showing it. He was also relieved that he really liked Yasha’s friends. They were nice, they had accepted him instantly, and he couldn’t wait to get to know them. Maybe he wouldn’t be alone anymore.

Molly’s two last classes were the same as Jester’s, as almost any other class, and the girl expressed her excitement by not leaving Molly’s side and talking his ears off about every possible story she could think of. She talked about her mother, who she loved very much, about her friends, the ones Molly had already met and the ones he was still to meet. About pranks and the secret wars between some of the students. What she called wars were probably only disagreements, but she told it as if they were heroes and adventurers fighting dragons, demons and pirates. She also talked about the drama club. 

“Here, for you. Fjord told me you might be interested,” she said at the end of the last class, as they were on their way to leave the school building, handing Molly a sheet of paper that invited him to the auditions for the school play. 

“Oh. Thanks.”

“No problem. I hope I’ll see you there. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to, of course. But I’m sure it will be fun.”

“I’ll be there,” Molly confirmed and if Jester’s smile hadn’t been bright before, it sure was now.

They parted ways soon afterwards, and Molly made his way to the parking lot alone, looking for either Yasha or Gustav in the crowd. They weren’t there yet, so he looked for Gustav’s car instead, waiting there and watching the other students and teachers walking or driving home, climbing into cars, waiting for parents or busses, fetching their bicycles or motorcycles, shouting goodbye.

He didn’t know any of them, of course not, most were still strangers, but nonetheless, there were already some people he recognised. There was Fjord, walking towards the school busses, accompanied by both Keyleth and the pink-haired one from biology class, Caduceus, who was busy braiding flowers into Keyleth’s hair while also walking. It was impressive how much taller he was than everyone else here. 

Some moments later, Molly saw Vex and Vax climbing onto a motorcycle and rushing out of the parking lot, with Vex being the driver, maybe a bit over the speed limit, but he was sure the twins didn’t care. 

He also saw the red-haired boy again, walking from one building to another, engaged in a conversation with the white-haired boy. It was actually the first time Molly saw the boy talking, saw him showing a sign of life that was more than moving eyes or taking notes. 

Molly liked watching him. When he thought about it, that sounded a bit creepy, but honestly, it was a mix of fascination, a lot of worry and maybe a little bit of a crush. Molly had already had lots of crushes in his short two-year-long live, and they had all come quickly and lasted for not more than a week. This was different, this felt different. 

“Mollymauk, how was your first day?” Gustav pulled him out of his thoughts. Molly flinched and, oddly, he felt like his foster father just caught him doing something bad, although he didn’t do anything wrong. 

“It was alright. Where is Yasha?” Molly asked confused at the sight of Gustav climbing into the car and motioning Molly to do the same.

“She has Lacrosse training, Desmond will pick her up later,” he answered and Molly sat down. “I didn’t know she played Lacrosse.”

“She doesn’t talk that much about herself.”

The ride home was very quiet. At least the first part. Gustav seemed not to be bothered by it and Molly had enough thoughts swirling inside of his head to keep him occupied. The day had been very overwhelming, with all the new people he had met and all the things they had told him. It was very weird for him to admit, but he had enjoyed his first day of school, a day he had always hated. 

When Gustav first stopped the car, it wasn’t in front of their house, it was in front of another school and Molly believed to remember from this morning that this had to be part of the Academy as well, but it was Desmond’s Elementary School, the one Mona, Yuli and Toya went to and Desmond was the principal of.

“We’re only picking up Toya and Nott, the twins will come home with Desmond,” Gustav explained and, as if they had heard, with just the right timing, the car doors opened and Toya jumped in, followed by a little girl Molly had already heard a lot of, but hadn’t seen yet.

Nott was a short girl with long, unkempt dark hair and vivid, nervous eyes darting around and looking at Molly sceptically. An instant emotion of fear and mistrust glowed up in those big eyes and Molly wondered what had happened to that little girl in order to cause such an extreme reaction to a stranger. 

They all greeted each other, Toya immediately started talking about her day and although Nott first seemed to be a bit uncomfortable, she soon joined in Toya’s chattering, adding little details and correcting exaggerations on her friend’s part. Molly liked listening to the two of them and in his opinion, the ride home ended way too fast.

Rather sooner than later, Molly was sitting in his room at his desk, trying to make sense of the few notes he had taken during classes and to figure out if he had any homework, he hadn’t really paid attention to that. Normally he wouldn’t care, but this time, he really didn’t want to screw up. 

Molly didn’t intend on changing. He didn’t want to become another person. He didn’t want to impress his new foster family or anyone else. He didn’t have to prove anything. He just wanted to finally stop doing nothing. He wanted to finally show himself and others what he could do and accomplish. Because that wasn’t nothing. That was a whole lot. So he spent a good part of an hour trying to solve math. It was pretty hopeless, as he soon noticed, so he decided to take a break, go to the kitchen and find something to eat, maybe also going and asking Gustav for help. 

Before he could do that, he heard a hesitant knock on his door. A little head appeared in the gap of the opened door, looming there for an instant, before quickly entering the room, but still staying at the door, as if she prepared to escape every minute. There she stood, Nott, looking Molly straight in the eyes.

“So, you’re Toya’s new brother,” she said and didn’t move an inch. She seemed like a little statue, staring Molly down, as of she wanted to challenge him. “Well, if she wants to call me her brother, then yes, sure.”

“I’m Nott. I have a brother, too,” she continued, and Molly wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted to achieve here, what she expected him to do, so he decided to continue the conversation.

“I already heard. Caleb, right?” He asked and observed how Nott’s rather cold facial expression warmed up a bit to the mention of her brother’s name. 

“Yes. Have you met him already?” She asked curiously, tilting her head to one side and moving a little more into the room and away from the door. 

“No, I don’t think so. It has been only one day at my new school, I don’t know that many people yet. But I’m sure I’ll meet your brother someday,” Molly answered reassuring and realised that he was really curious about who Nott’s brother was. 

“You have to know, he is very smart,” she now said and the slightest sign of a smile showed itself on Nott’s proud face.

“You aren’t the first one to tell me that, so I believe it’s true.”

“It really is,” Nott nodded and then she finally released Molly from her gaze. Instead, she looked around in his bedroom, that still felt like it was someone else’s and not his. He had to do something about that soon. 

“Molly?” Nott suddenly asked in a quieter and more careful tone of voice. 

“Yes?”

“You are going to protect Toya, right?” She asked with the most seriousness Molly had ever heard in someone’s voice. He didn’t know or understand what she meant, what he was supposed to protect Toya from, if there was something particular that endangered the little girl, or if it was only general precaution. But Nott was looking at him with her big eyes full of hope and expectation, so the only thing Molly was able to say, was “Of course.”

“Good,” Nott muttered and faster than Molly’s mind could register, she had left his room again. Molly wasn’t sure what just happened, or how he should react now, and so he just got up and left his room as well, still wanting to go to the kitchen. 

Molly didn’t know if he believed in fate or destiny or anything like that, or if it was by chance that the moment he ran down the stairs and past the front door, he heard the doorbell ringing. Funny, how things like that can just happen. Molly didn’t even think about it, he instinctively opened the door and found himself standing face to face to the red-haired boy. His eyes full of surprise, he blinked quickly and opened his mouth, only to close it again and staying quiet. Silence ruled the situation and Molly wasn’t sure what to do. All of this happened in maybe a single second, before they heard Toya call from the inside of the house. “Is it Caleb?”

And then Molly got shoved aside by two little girls, one running to the red-haired boy, Caleb, and hugging him tight, as if they hadn’t seen each other in years, the other one staying with Molly, watching the two.

“Do you want to stay for dinner?” Toya asked and then came the first time Molly heard Caleb’s voice. “No, not today, I think we better get going, but thank you.”

He had a nice voice, surprisingly with a German accent, although Nott didn’t have one – now that Molly thought of it, the siblings also didn’t look any alike – and it was quiet and calm, comforting and soothing. Molly really liked it.

“Goodbye!” Nott said and Caleb nodded towards Molly, allowing some seconds of eye contact, before turning around and walking away, holding Nott’s hand. And then he was gone again.

“Are you alright?” Toya asked, looking at Molly with worry in her eyes, not understanding why he seemed a little stunned right now.

“Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?” He answered, not completely telling the truth. He closed the door, ruffled through Toya’s hair and returned to his room. He didn’t remember why he came downstairs in the first place, his head was washed empty and the only thing he could think about was that he had seen Caleb five times now, but hadn’t once really talked to him. He needed to change that.


End file.
